Independent Order Sons of Jacob
Ritual


1903


Opening the Lodge

At the appointed hour the President takes the chair; if he be absent the Vice-President, and if both be absent a Brother Past President shall be called to preside.
If any of the other officers are absent the presiding officer shall appoint the members present to fill their stations pro term.
PRESIDENT:
Brother Officers, you will occupy your respective positions.
Brethren be seated,
Brother Guardian close the door.
Brother Conductor, examine the brethren in the password.
After the Conductor shall have made a satisfactory report, the President gives the signal to rise, and continues:

Arise, my Brothers, let us all
Respond unto our Order’s call.
Both heart and hand let us devote
Its glorious mission to promote:
All Israel’s sons in love to bind—
A blessing thus, to all mankind.
Let us improve and elevate
Our mental and our moral state,
Until our people’s beaut’ous fame
Each base attack shall put to shame.
Defend Proud Honor’s noble laws,
Philanthropy’s exalted cause,
And seek in art and science, too,
The good, beautiful and the true:
The needy and the helpless poor
We will relieve and aid secure;
And by the sufferer’s bedside stand
With cheering smile and helping hand:
Alleviating the distressed,
The persecuted, the oppressed,
To exile, forced in grief to flee
From prejudice and tyranny:
The widow’s cause we will defend,
The orphan ne’er shall want a friend:
Thus Brothers would our Order bind
In love and goodness all mankind.
May the blessing of God attend our labors and strengthen us in the performance of our duties. Amen.
Signal to be seated.

Brethren: For the proper transaction of the business of the Lodge it is requisite that you follow the proceedings with attention and decorum, and that we all conform to the laws of the Independent Order Sons of Jacob and of this Lodge.
Brethren: Be mindful of your obligations and let your proceedings be characterized by Truth, Justice and Harmony.
I now declare the Lodge open for the transaction of business.
1. Roll Call of Officers.
2. Reading of the Minutes.
3. Reports of Committee on Candidates.
4. Ballot for Candidates,
5. Initiation of Candidates,
6. Proposition for Membership.
7. Roll Call and Reports of Committee on Sick.
8. Application for Relief and Information Concerning a Brother in Distress.
9. Communications.
A. From the Grand Lodge.
B. From Sister Lodges.
C. From Members of the Order.
D. General Communications.
10. Bills.
11. Reports of Committees.
12. Unfinished Business.
13. Brother Treasurer, give your report as to payments to Grand Lodge.
14. Produce receipt for such from Grand Sec’y.
15. New Business.
16. Subjects Concerning the Good and Welfare of the Lodge.
17. For the Good and Welfare of the Order.
18. Reports of the Receipts and Disbursements.
19. Closing the Lodge.
 

Initiation of Candidates

PRESIDENT:
Brother Conductor.
CONDUCTOR:
Brother President.
PRESIDENT:
Please retire in the anteroom and see if you find any candidates wishing to be initiated into this Lodge and our beloved Order.
Conductor retires, after saluting the President and Vice-President, and ascertains the name or names of the candidates, whereupon he enters, salutes the President and says:
Brother President, I find Mr. … awaiting to be initiated.
PRESIDENT:
Brother Ex-President and Secretary, please retire and examine the candidate.
The Secretary and the Ex-President retire and ask the candidate the questions provided in question and answer book.
The candidate signs the declaration he has made and the Secretary makes a report to the Lodge, after which the Conductor is instructed to bring the candidate into the Lodge room to be initiated.
The Conductor addresses the candidate and says to him:
I am now instructed to conduct you into the Lodge, your questions having been satisfactorily answered. Goes to the door of the Lodge room and gives the signal for admission.
INSIDE GUARDIAN:
Who asks for admission?
CONDUCTOR:
The Conductor with a candidate.
INSIDE GUARDIAN to President:
Our Brother Conductor with …, a candidate, asks to be admitted.
VICE PRESIDENT:
Let them enter.
Inside Guardian opens the door, and the Conductor, with the candidate, enter the Lodge room.
The Conductor conducts the candidate to the President, who addresses him thus:
PRESIDENT:
My friend, you are about to join the Independent Order Sons of Jacob, an organization which has taken upon itself the uniting of Israelites in the work of promoting the highest interest of humanity.
Of developing, elevating and defending the mental and moral character of our race.
Alleviating the wants of the poor and needy, visiting and attending the sick.
Coming to the rescue of those who have become the victims of prosecution.
Providing for and assisting the widow and orphan on the broadest principles of humanity.
Since you have declared to the Conductor your willingness to participate in our work, ii request you to take an obligation to that effect. You will repeat after me:
Signal to rise.

I, …, hereby solemnly promise to obey the Constitution, laws and regulations of the Independent Order Sons of Jacob and of the Lodge Of which I am a member, to faithfully discharge all duties incumbent upon me as a member of the Order. I will further its aims and objects and advance its welfare to the best of my ability. I promise never to impart the password, signs and signals of the Order to any uninitiated person, and I will give such password and signs only on the occasion and in the manner prescribed by the rules of the Order.
This obligation shall be binding upon me, not only while I am a member of the Order, but even when I may have ceased to belong to the same. To all of which I pledge my sacred honor. Amen.
Signal to be seated.
By that endearing term do I now greet you. You have been admitted into an Order which has taken upon itself to promote the good and welfare of coreligionists and to uphold Judaism.
I will now instruct you in the different workings of our Order, the different signs, by which you are to enter a Lodge, the sign when you conic into a Lodge room which is in session, the sign of recognition, the hand grip and the password.
We have a signal for admission, which is thus: …
When you reach the outer door of a meeting locality you give one rap, and the Outside Guardian will open the door after you have given him half the password. You will then go to the inner door and give two raps thus, when the Inside Guardian will ask you for the pass word, which you will give him in full; you will then be admitted into the Lodge room.
We have a signal of salutation which you are to give upon your entrance into the Lodge, which is thus: … first to the President and then to the Vice-President.
This sign means that you talk no evil, nor let any secret pertaining to this Order pass your lips.
This is the signal for the brethren to rise, * * *
This is the sign for officers to rise, * *
This is the signal for them to be seated, *
It is also used to call the brethren to order.
This is the recognition sign: …
When a sister Lodge is visited, in addition to the signal of admission and password, your name, and that of the Lodge of which you are a member, must be given.
The motto of our Order is: Truth, Justice and Harmony.
PRESIDENT:
My Brother, you are now initiated as a member of our Order, an organization which has accomplished a great and glorious work. It has not only conferred and does confer benefits on its members, but has established and does maintain charitable institutions, which are a blessing to humanity and an honor to Judaism. The dignified and respected position of the Jews is due, in a great measure, to precepts inculcated in our Lodges and carried by their members into their outer life. Much more yet remains to be done; you have promised earnestly to participate in our work. May God bless you in doing so.
Attend our meetings as often as you can make it convenient, and you will become interested in the proceedings and in the discussion of questions connected with the aims and objects of the Order.
I will now introduce you to the members of this Lodge.
Brethren, I have the pleasure to introduce to you Mr. …, the newly elected member of this Lodge.
 

Closing the Lodge

PRESIDENT:
Brother Vice-President, the business of this meeting is ended; proceed with the closing of the Lodge.
VICE-PRESIDENT:
Brethren, we enter the Lodge with the earnest purpose of promoting whatever is good and noble, and of advancing our welfare and that of our fellowman, Let us, in leaving the Lodge, remember the objects of our Order and constantly endeavor to carry them into practice. Let us invite all good Israelites to share in our labors for the advancement of Charity, Enlightenment and Humanity; let us work and Watch, and may the blessing of God attend our labors and strengthen us in the performance of our duties. Amen.
PRESIDENT:
I hereby declare the Lodge closed. Brother Guardian, open the doors and let the brethren depart in peace.



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